Art Unpacked: 50 Works of Art: Uncovered, Explored, Explained

A downtoearth, visual guidebook that shows how to read, understand, and get the most out of art.For beginners, art history might seem a daunting subject with complex rules and impenetrable technical language. Even for more seasoned art lovers the question of how to think about art is a perennial riddle. Art Uncovered is the perfect resource for both audiences: an engaging, visual primer for the general reader and educators. Designed like an instruction manual, fifty key artworks from around the world are deconstructed with explanations, diagrams, and closeups in order to reveal the elements that comprise a masterpiece.Dating from the earliest times to the present, the artworks under analysis are drawn from many cultures and cover all forms of visual media, including drawing, illustration, photography, prints, and sculpture. Matthew Wilsons simple approach, using established art historical methods, enables the reader to discover the fundamentals of art history, from considerations of function, historical context, iconography, and artists experience to broader issues of identity, including feminism, gender, and postcolonialism. Whether its the mask of Tutankhamun or Dorothea Langes photograph Migrant Mother, Katsushika Hokusais GreatWave or Kara Walkers Gone, each image is dissected on the page in a nononsense style, with explanatory notes detailing artists sources of inspiration, associated styles and movements, plus any relevant quotes, related visuals, and other contextual and issueled information with keywords for handy crossreferencing. The resulting book is a dynamic visual resource that will inspire and spark enjoyment of art in all its forms. 850 color illustrations